3.24.2017

Now, SF film Ghost in the Shell was shown in Japan. Ahead of this film, gadget maker Cerevo reproduced the robot of the original anime of this film.

It is mini-size of the 1/8 scale(352mm × 391mm × 249mm), but is a real robot, not a model. This is "TACHIKOMA", the AI deployment tank appearing in anime "Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex". Cerevo made this with 1/8 scale as part of a project to reproduce the items which appeared in animes, games, and the movies using the technology of the household appliance. This has joints, pod, a manipulator, wheels, and of course they move.

Furthermore, this has a sound recognition function, a voice synthesis engine, a camera and is connected to the cloud Internet. And owners can talk with this. When you show an apple towards the camera of this and ask "What is this?", the object recognition engine in the cloud recognizes it and answers "I know, this is a apple". When someone tell this that "the apple is sweet", this understands it, sends the information to the cloud and share information with other TACHIKOMA. In other words, this learns a lot of information by many owners talking to this. They accept the pre-order of this, but surprisingly the price is 169,992 yen!(in Tax). Furthermore, SPECIAL EDITION using aluminum parts is 191,592 yen!(in tax). The shipment start is June.

3.17.2017

Japanese flea market app "Mercari" step forward abroad steadily. They released application in U.K. This is their overseas development following the U.S. and they aim at the European market. U.K. version site is here.

Mercari was released in Japan in July, 2013. Various flea market apps existed before this, but as for them, web service for PCs was the main constituent, and the mobile apps were late departure. However, Mercari was the "mobile-first" thoroughly and simple(they have web service for PCs now). If you want to sell something, you have only to take its photos with the camera of the smartphone and write its captions. If you have luck, it may sell in several seconds. I used Jp version of Mercari, and earned about 170,000yen(about 1,510USD) so far. In Japan, we must pay recycling fees when we discard large garbage and household appliance garbage. However, we can earn pocket money if we sell these in Mercari.

They released U.S. version in September, 2014, and apps broke through 20 million downloading now(40 million downloading in Japan). They established branch office "Mercari Europe" in the U.K. in 2016 and prepared for the advance to the European market.

Mercari was established in February, 2013 by Japanese serial entrepreneur Shintaro Yamada.

3.16.2017

Many people think VR Head Mount Display to be a bulky gadget with high price. However, Caramel VR which Moji sells changes their image. It is lightweight, thin, foldable and cheap with only 1,080yen(in tax)! It is only 49 grams, and the size at the time of the folding is W7xH7.5xD2.3cm.

You may think it to be like the toy loupe, but it support with Google Cardboard which is a standard of mobile VR of Google and users can enjoy 360-degree panoramic videos and VR application. Users can attach this to the smartphone of 6 inches. Lenses are 34mm, and the material of the body is ABS resin.

3.15.2017

If LED lantern, Bluetooth speaker, flashlight, drink bottle, all of them combine into one thing, the outdoor will become fun more easily. "PLAYFUL BASE LANTERN SPEAKER BOTTLE." is right such outdoor gear.

Its size is 70mm x 70mm x 215mm, and the function of an LED lantern, Bluetooth speaker, an LED flashlight, and drink bottle are packed with in that. It is water-proofing / dust-proofing specification, so users can use it in not only the outdoors such as the camping but also the bathroom. The LED lantern's brightness is 120lm, and colors of the light change by colors of the drinks which users poured into the drink bottle part. Coffee, tea, juice...etc, users can create atmospheres by drinks.

Speaker is non-directional, output is 3W, and available consecutively for about ten hours(It is six hours if users use the speaker function and the LED lantern function at the same time). The color variations are silver and navy blue, and the price is 10,800 yen(in tax).

3.14.2017

Drone is downsized steadily and becomes simple. CCP of Bandai Namco Group released only 6cm mini-drone "REAL LIVE TETRAL".

Its weight is about 20g, it has four propellers and 410,000 pixels of camera, and it can transmit the video which it shot to the smartphone of users in real time. Users can control it with their smartphone or tablet through application, but can use the controller also. Because it is small and can turn in a small radius, it can move through tight places, and users can even take selfie using it. Furthermore, they can enjoy First Person View that flies in the sky when they use mobile VR goggles.

This has an atmospheric pressure sensor and automatically performs high adjustment, even beginner users can carry out 12 kinds of actions such as taking off/landing and the hovering easily. Recharge time is about 45 minutes and flight time is about three minutes, the video is saved in AVI and the image is saved in JPEG. The price is 12,960 yen(in tax).

3.12.2017

When spring comes, the people who work hard at diet to reduce the fat which they stored up in winter increase. It may become the charity by this application. Metavolunteer is NPO aiming at solving obesity and starvation at the same time, and they develop mobile application CHARITY DIET for charity that the calories that users burnt by exercise are converted into donations.

When users choose the charity groups which they want to support, and send data of calories to application, the sponsor companies perform contribution equivalent to those calories for charity groups. The application is free, and users only link CHARITY DIET to the partner application that can acquire data of calories-out and can participate in charity activity.

Médecins sans frontières, hunger free world, Save the Children, World Vision, WWF has already expressed participation and Metavoluntee gathers other charity groups and sponsor companies. Unfortunately this has not been yet released. Now, they invite the 500 precedent testers and start test service from this spring.

3.10.2017

Sakura, the cherry-blossoms bloom at the end of this month in Japan. It signals the end of winter and coming of spring, and the Japanese celebrate this by holding picnic parties under trees of sakura. Parks having them are crowded with many people with picnic sheets, foods and a lot of liquors. Toy company Takara Tomy Arts released the gadget which is good to it this month.

Beerhour-Gokuawa-Portable closes the canned beers after opened and makes its forms creamy more. When users are attached this to the upper part of the canned beer which opened and pour beer into a glass while pushing the button, the supersonic wave occurs and make creamy foams. In addition, it keeps gas and taste of the beers. It supports any kinds of beers if the diameter of cans are 56~57mm. It works by two AAA alkaline batteries and size is 72mm x 65mm x 105mm. It's compact so as to enter pockets of clothes, and good to the outdoor. Color variations are black and white, and the price is 3,218yen(in tax).